About this Total War thing

[cube_b3]

For countless years I've been seeing this franchise be advertised on Sega websites. In a recent interview about Sega Europe I read Mike Hayes or someone said that their was this very popular genre (strategy right) and SEGA didn't have a game here so they went ahead and bought a successful studio so SEGA could profit from that genre.

I don't like it, am I being extra weird saying that.

Sonic wasn't created because hedgehogs were popular and made money, he was created cause the mascot world needed SEGA. They studied Mario and decided their mascot should be nothing like him.

With that logic (as stupid as it is) I've never wanted to go near Total War, though I did try Hundred Swords even though Moore was a total ass for not releasing it in english. I got a JP copy didn't understand squat and didn't play it again.

Anyway the whole franchise feels UNSEGA to me, even Bayonetta as much as it looks like something made by Capcom. PG went out of their way to try and get SEGA fans to accept that game by including classic SEGA tunes and gold rings.

Do you see my point in this convoluted post?

[Sharky]

Does Star Horse feel like a Sega game? Lets go Jungle? Streets of Rage? Comix Zone? Shining Force? Crush? Panzer Dragoon? Beyond Oasis? Yakuza?

Sega have been involved with so many games over the years, in so many styles and so many genres...

I find this whole lack of acceptance of this 'not Sega' style really jarring and silly. Visually to me the 'Sega Style' was very much linked to the Model 2/Naomi arcade boards.

There have been a few games you could say 'That’s REALLY Sega like' such as Jet Set Radio and Space Channel 5... But the VAST majority of Sega games could be made by many other companies...

What really means 'Sega' to me is great music and fun game play and Total War delivers it in spades... TRY IT SOMEDAY.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5QyxWsJP1A
^Sega at its best.

[Centrale]

I think by virtue of it being such a graphically impressive technical feat, in that sense it upholds a degree of high quality that is something that Sega has historically striven for.  It definitely feels 'more Sega' to me than the Secret Level debacle.

Sega is a huge company that makes so many different kinds of games.  And the very nature of the game industry has fundamentally changed over the past decade.  Even in the more conservative and traditional corporate culture in Japan, there seems to be less unending loyalty to the company one is working for and more ambition to strike out and start your own studio.  That's not something that I think is ever going to change back.  So Sega made some good choices with the European devs they've acquired, and the partnership with Platinum.  Capcom hasn't shown that kind of foresight and I think there's been a noticeable decline in the quality of their games in the past few years.

[Barry the Nomad]

Pulling my SEGA Consumer History book off the shelf, I quote to the defining aspects of SEGA games, as stated by SoJ: Advanced Design, Technical Power, Unique Sense, Various Genres.

Total War seems to have all of these. The design of the game is advanced, both graphically and in gameplay, the technical power is high (look at all the dudes on screen!), it isn't so much a unique sense as SC5 or JSR however the idea of a historical battle recreated in high quality graphics is quite unique in today's gaming world where war games don't go further back that WWII. Various genres, well Total War is quite a unique genre that is published by a company that also develops fighters, racers, platformers, rpgs, etc.

So yeah, Total War = Total SEGA.

[George]

SEGA has been trying to branch out with the 'not SEGA Japan' feel since the Genesis era. That is why SEGA Institute was around to make games like The Ooze and Comix Zone.

I have no issue with SEGA doing other game markets. Did NFL 2K Games feel like SEGA games?

Exactly. You will see lots of SEGA fans have great memories with those games...

[MadeManG74]

cube, you so crazy.

In any event, I would love the Total War series no matter who made it. I can safely say that because i got into it one game before Sega took over. phew

[cube_b3]

@MMG74: Yes, I felt the crazyness peaking when I made this post but here goes.

@ Sharky: Let's see, maybe by the end of the discussion I could add it on my to play list.

@ George: The thing about STI and I believe all the games Sharky mentioned are made by SEGA people who gave SEGA their identity. Given that SEGA carved their identity (functional ideology) around the time Sonic was made 1991.

Mark Cerny had been working with SEGA way before that and he's the one who formed STI. Rising talent and today's finest were groomed under STI, SEGA was a trendsetter and if they didn't like something they broke it. ANTI ESTABLISHMENT was Synonymous with SEGA the underdog who cared for the consumers.

Now we have corporate bastards who suck consumers and developers dry. If Strategy was a genre SEGA needed to get into they should've broken the genre down and reinvented it - I believe something similar was achieved with Valkyria Chronicles.

Buying the bloody best isn't the SEGA way, :S.

By that logic they should've bought RARE instead of making Sonic at home (so they could've had Donkey Kong or something).

Here's an example of how SG should work with companies:

SEGA has worked with established developers as well but they affected them significantly take Bizarre Creations for example they wouldn't even be called Bizarre if it wasn't for them. Their PGR a game they will forever be synonymous with was only possible after SEGA realized their talent and gave them a chance when they choose them to develop MSR and then when the studio needed to grow and evolve SEGA provided them the opportunity by financing The Club.

Please note I'm not attacking Total War, I just need a little help in connecting them to SEGA. I've grown up with this company and modeled mature decisions of my life based on the life (read: teachings) of Tom Kalinske and Hayoa Nakayama and other than the fact that they bring in huge profits for SEGA (as a consumer we shouldn't care about it) I don't see the SEGA I grow up with in them.
The SEGA I grow up with barely exists in the video game industry in general though.

I honestly find the indie Dreamcast studios more SEGA, HELL OF A LOT MORE (SENILE TEAM FTW) than Creative Assembly.

[Sharky]

All that should need to be said here is that SO MANY of Segas best games were developed out side of Sega Japan...

Shining Force, Gun Star Heroes, Wonderboy, Comix Zone, Sonic Rush, Bayonetta, Crush, Streets of Rage, Beyond Oasis, 2K series... The list is big.

There is no part of me that feels that Shining Force feels like Sonic Rush or NFL 2K2 feels like Bayonetta... They simply don't.

I could say Gun Star Heroes feels more like a 90's Konami game then a Sega game and I'd be right... But it is still a Sega classic. Likewise Sonic Rush feels FAR more like a Sega game to me than Sword of Vermilion ever will and that was developed by AM2 with Yu Suzuki involved...

The bottom line here is that there has never really been a uniform Sega style and not all of Segas most 'Sega' classics are even made by Sega...

Total War games are an absolute masterpiece, I've been hooked on them since the very first one and that was published by EA... Usually I'll avoid buying EA games or I did at the time.

They have fantastic game play, fantastic music, they are genre defining, revolutionary, unique in that nothing comes close to doing what these games do... They are, to me what every Sega game should strive to be.

Not to mention Sega have been funding their projects since 2005, have grown the team since then, added a console team and own the company.

There is NOTHING about them that isn't Sega right now.

[Barry the Nomad]

Sharky needs to write an op-ed on Total War and how it is a fantastic SEGA franchise. I think the games deserve it.

[Sega Uranus]

Total War feels very SEGA to me.

If you look at every game the company develops with an "AAA quality" mentality that they have ever made, you will always find two things.

An extreme amount of graphical detail and basic gameplay elements known in the genre made simpler, but as a way to improve the concept.

Everything from Fantasy Zone to Ecco the Dolphin to Virtua Fighter to Phantasy Star to Yakuza to even stuff like Sonic 06 have these.

Every single game SEGA has ever made with the mentality that it would be a very big title for them have. You cannot say that for any other major publisher. Total War has those traits, and it is only because The Creative Assembly is very passionate about their work and the genre, not really about making money.

[Centrale]

@ George: The thing about STI and I believe all the games Sharky mentioned are made by SEGA people who gave SEGA their identity. Given that SEGA carved their identity (functional ideology) around the time Sonic was made 1991.

Uhh, what?  Speaking as one of the minority of Sega fans who don't particularly care about Sonic (although... thanks for the money!), I have to take exception to this.  I became a Sega fan because of their coin-op arcade titles.... obviously that is a major part of their identity.

I could say Gun Star Heroes feels more like a 90's Konami game then a Sega game and I'd be right... But it is still a Sega classic.

Really?  I don't think Gunstar Heroes feels sloppy, rushed and corny at all.  Sorry, I've been annoyed by Konami ever since the crap gravity in Castlevania somehow made it past QA...

[George]

SEGA can't be a company that just releases 'Outrun' and 'Sonic' games. I know some people would like that, but they are not 'Nintendo', they try new types of game to reach a wider market. That is why I like SEGA. They don't bore me like Nintendo and their endless same feeling Zelda games.

[Deefy]

though I did try Hundred Swords even though Moore was a total ass for not releasing it in english. I got a JP copy didn't understand squat and didn't play it again.

Ahe cube, there is the PC version of Hundred Swords in english!!!
I own a copy and it's a very very good SEGA game, totally Smilebit especially into design

[Berto]

Why are people like this?

Total War Game Gets Review Bombed On Steam Over Women Generals
https://steamed.kotaku.com/total-war-game-gets-review-bombed-on-steam-over-women-g-1829283785